Legislators on both sides of the aisle agree that public transportation systems provide many benefits to the communities they serve, and ballot measures across the country this year have revealed strong public support for public transportation. For communities interested in bringing services like these to their area, a focused, organized transit campaign can make all the difference.

Transit Campaign Planning: A strategy template for organizers (PDF) is intended to help advocates interested in supporting public transportation do so more effectively. Originally published in 2009 and updated for 2011, this campaign template provides strategy guidance and suggestions for organizations large and small interested in establishing local and state-based funding streams for transit.

The template encourages advocates to answer questions familiar to any seasoned campaigner, with guidelines for doing a situation analysis, defining specific goals and objectives, identifying important decision-makers, laying out strategies and creating a campaign structure. Ultimately, this template is meant to help advocates create an original campaign plan that responds to the priorities, needs and interests of their community.